Tag Archives: Bengaluru

WE’VE ONLY MISSED a few Bill Moores’ parties at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street, and unfortunately we missed yesterday’s event, as we’re in Sunny Bengaluru, rather than the cold Chrismassy atmosphere in London Town.

So thanks to fiends for sending us links to the best and worst of British journalism, raw in tooth and flesh, with the entire set here. It is Daryl Wilcox hosted now – he was a fine journalist – we used to call him Dayrate Wilcox – but he has gone to the other side. I wasn’t invited. ◊

YOU MIGHT THINK (mistakenly) that Bangalore is the world capital of pubs. Oh no, it is the world capital of coat hangers.

I know this because someone has just moved into the apartment here in Bengaluru and she was suffering a drastic shortage of coat hangers. So she’s been out today, and came back so happy at finding coat hangers that she went out and bought another clutch.

At Rs98 for eight, this seems sort of a reasonable price. She bought pink ones and blue ones and nicked most of mine too. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet unpacked and so I will have to either demand some back, or go down and buy some pink ones for myself. Foolishly, I forgot to pack any trousers before I left Blighty, so I’ve had to go buy a couple of pair today. And they’ll need coat hangers, won’t they? ♦

I WILL SOON be able to experience the delights of the 100 Feet Road because I’m writing this from Terminal 5 Heathrow on my way to Bangalore.

Just out there for a couple of weeks this time round but I’m used to getting away from the freezing cold weather here in Old Blighty, and to the sunshine, flowers and butterflies of Bangalore. See you on the other side! ♦

KRISHNA PRASHAD has done a very good job in giving an overview of what Bangalore is like, here.

The butterflies and the trees and the dragonflies appeal to me – they’re not in this video – and the pavements (sidewalks) leave a lot to be desired. But really Bengaluru is a very fine place. It is not, however the pub capital of India. ♣

HEADED DOWN to the Bull Temple in Bengaluru on Saturday. Nandi is the vehicle (vahana) of Lord Shiva, but this temple is unusual because Nandi takes pride of place while in the temple itself is only a small shrine to Shiva in the usual shape of a Shiva Lingam.

The bull is made out of one huge piece of white granite, with oil applied to it every week or so to keep its colour black. This site dates the temple to 1537AD, says it was constructed by Kempe Gowde, and gives the legend about how the 4.6 metre tall bull came to be. The carving is very impressive.

When you circumambulate the temple, you’ll discover a plastered over hole at the back. This was originally there to allow lower caste people to see inside the temple – they weren’t allowed to cross the precincts.

Outside, and to the right of the temple there’s a raised platform on which are several flagstones decorated with the nagas, or snake gods. ♥

AFTER VISITING Bengaluru now for eight months we have come to the conclusion that any claim it has to be any kind of pub capital at all is completely bogus.

Most of the drinkerias are located off MG Road and Brigade Road but they’re no great shakes. Perhaps the best of a sorry bunch is Coconut Grove, on Church Street, a small bar attached to a restaurant and separated from the road by greenery. We were down there the other day and bumped into some would-be journalist hacks and some ex-pats. You can also pick up pirated books there – we saw a copy of White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga, the recent winner of the Booker Prize. That was selling for Rs125 and was printed on a superior type of toilet paper.

The smoking ban in public places in India appears to be one of the best observed laws in India. While traffic laws are widely flouted, the smokers in the bars dutifully traipse out into the street and smoke their tabs while gazing wistfully at their friends and beers sitting two feet away in the open air. At least the temperatures in Ole Bengaluru are more forgiving than in Blighty – at this time of year the dedicated smokers stand outside shivering in the British cold and rain, paying homage to the great god Nicotine.

The hotels and coffee shops in Bengaluru appear to have decided that they may as well ban smoking even if they have open spaces as part of their property. Just around the corner from this apartment in the Defence Colony is a branch of Coffee Day, looking onto the busy and very smoky 100 Feet Road. It has lots of seating outside but smoke there and you commit an offence, punishable with an on-spot fine of Rs250 if the cops nab you, it appears.

The egregious Leela Palace has a vast area of fake tropical jungle, on the edge of which are two restaurants. There is no place for a smoker to lurk – if the addict wants a fix, she or he has to traipse through another restaurant into a little corner to light up a tab. The Oberoi, on MG Road, also has an area of greenery in the middle of the hotel. Smokers have to negotiate a dark little path and get their fix at two tiny ashtrays away from the eyes of those who must be obeyed. They cannot take their drinks – obviously people can’t have too much fun at the same time. ♣